Word Count: 4,099
…
What Might Be Called Acquiescence
…
[September 4, 1995: The Atrium, the Altair Institute of Magic]
"I can't believe Admin wants to torture us so," Oliver bemoaned theatrically, dropping his head into his forearms as he took a seat at the table, cueing laughter from the others. Marcus had a similar pose, head rested in his palms and thumbs rubbing circles into his temple, his partner resting her head on his shoulder.
"You can't?" Sei asked, "I sure as hell can. As much as I don't want to mentor the Hogwarts brats… well. Admin's Admin, you know how it is."
"'Admin's Admin?'" Reid echoed, snickering.
"To be entirely fair," Marcus' partner pointed out, "It's your own fault for being approachable and willing to help. I'm sure Reid would have been made a mentor too, if he weren't, well… Reid."
"Oh, Lirienne, you flatter me," Reid blew the werewolf a kiss, winking even as Marcus scowled. "I'll have you know, I have an incredibly humanitarian personality."
"Sure, if 'humanitarian' means you like eating humans," Marcus muttered sourly, glaring at the vampire.
"They can't be that awful to mentor, can they?" Lorcan interrupted. He'd jotted down advice that could potentially be helpful as soon as he'd read the letter from Admin. Even though he wasn't excited about being chosen to mentor the Hogwarts students, they hadn't been awful in the short time he'd interacted with them.
"Please, you're not the one stuck with Malfoy," Oliver complained. "All three of them, actually— the one kid, Zabini? He seems alright, or at least like he knows how to shut up, but I am not looking forward to the other two."
"Hey, one out of three is decent, that's pretty good," Sei pointed out. "I'm in the same sinking ship with my students. Mentees? Whatever they are. I guess I've got Missus Potter, but did you all hear what the other two were espousing?"
"Espousing?" Reid echoed, ducking the curse that flew his way.
"Reid, kindly fuck off."
"Language, you're mentoring children," Lirienne said to collective groans.
"Children they may be but it's not going to stop me from punting them off a cliff—"
"Seifried Varrick, don't you dare."
"At least Lorcan and I have decent students," Marcus said cheerfully. "But Hufflepuff, my gods, what a name…"
"Didn't your lot go out of their way to not be offensive, love?" Lirienne asked her partner, kissing his cheek when he hummed in thought. "What happened to advocating for all of them and making sure they all made it through?"
"That resolution was made prematurely," Marcus backtracked. "I hadn't met them yet. And please don't mock me, Liri, I'm going to hear enough of it from these assholes —don't laugh, Strelem, I will cut the smile off your face— I swear, all of you are going to regret this."
"I want to know why you two aren't complaining," Sei gestured towards the two Naga practically entwined in one another, tails twisted together, heating charm distorting the cool afternoon air around them. "Didn't you both get placed as mentors for Miss Girl-Who-Lived?"
"Speakers are rare enough as it is that it's an honor to be chosen to mentor one," Syenn explained.
"Even when it's the Girl-Who-Lived, Magical Britain's best and only playing card?"
"Azalea, as she prefers, is a darling," Syenn laughed. "A bit naïve, admittedly, but she's certainly more interested in being here and learning that I've heard the rest of them are."
"I swear if one of the little brats goes off on how horrible Altair is, I'm cutting out their tongue," Sei muttered.
"Seifried Varrick, really?" Lirienne criticized. "Surely you have steps before resorting to cutting out their tongues?"
"Not with these little bastards," Sei said, hands raised defensively. "Look, you weren't there when they insulted Headmistress Mercuriel. I have zero respect for them. Maybe they'll prove me wrong, I don't care. I'll do my shit responsibility and make sure they don't immediately get killed but I am not pandering to people who call entire races of people monsters like it's nothing. I don't want to have to endure their idiotic worldviews in the off chance one or two of them aren't stuck as miserable bastards. I'm not doing it. And stop with the full name, Lirienne Priscilla Jordan."
"Sei, I don't see how you can blame fifteen-year-olds for being brainwashed into thinking vampires and werewolves and fae and daemons or whoever are monsters. It's the only narrative they've ever heard, you can't expect a child to know better," Lirienne insisted.
"I'm siding with Sei here," Oliver said slowly, halting the vampire's clearly inflamed response. "There's only so much vitriol I'm going to be able to stand."
"It's not about ignoring vitriol, Ollie, it's about understanding that they don't have any experiences to contradict what they've been told," Lirienne said.
"So? They're still horrible," Sei complained. "I'm not sure about any of you, but I grew up hearing all sorts of shit from my Sire. I didn't grow into someone who wants to eradicate the entire human race. I was fed a single world view and not once did I think the entire human race was composed of malicious and parasitic worms that leeched off of the work and accomplishments of vampires."
"I'm not sure how fair that comparison is, Sei," Reid countered with surprising gentleness. "Aside from the circumstances, not everyone is you, Seifried."
"I think that's important to remember," Marcus redirected the conversation. "Regardless of whatever reason Admin decided to bring them here, Hogwarts students are not at all Altair quality. Some of them —half, maybe, in the best-case scenario— have good potential to be, but they aren't coming here Altair quality. They're not crème de la crème or whatever the hell Quidnunc's Quandary has decided we are this year. As rough as it is that we were assigned to be mentors, we were. I'm not… I'm not about to tell you to put your all into shaping them into halfway decent people, but I know I'm going to at least initially try to get them to at least Altair quality. Who knows, maybe it'll pay off… With that said, there's no way in hell I'm putting more work into it than any of the other things I'm doing, I don't care that much."
"Your optimism inspires me," Oliver deadpanned.
"Oh you could at least give them a chance, fae," Lorcan complained.
"There's no fucking way I'm lasting this whole year without shoving them off on some poor soul," Sei muttered to himself.
"There's at least one Johannes you could terrify into mentoring them," Reid agreed, clapping his friend on the back. "Until then, we get to have our fun."
"Tsch, fun," Sei scoffed halfheartedly.
"Alright, that's that," Marcus ended the conversation. "Look, here they come. Day one begins." He gestured with his hand towards one of the main paths into the Atrium, and the group turned to watch as the clump of Hogwarts students grabbed food from the long buffet tables, a tired-looking faculty member leading them.
"As much as I worry you all need supervision, I have… things to prepare for," Lirienne said as she stood, kissing Marcus briefly and leaving to muted goodbyes.
"We are also going," Syenn agreed as she disentangled herself from Syrul. "As much as we should speak to Azalea, we can do that later. Sei, would you send her our way once you're done being a good mentor?"
"Fuck you. Fine."
"Oh be friendly, Seifried," Syrul teased, baring sharp teeth at the vampire's snarl. "Give them a chance."
"I'll give them a single chance, Syrul. One."
"There's no way they aren't going to need more than that," Oliver muttered sourly, a tight smile winding its way onto his face as the Hogwarts students came within hearing distance. "What a way to start the day."
"Let's hope this goes well," Marcus said to himself, nodding acknowledgment to the faculty member. "Good day, Enrico, appreciate your help. Good morning to the twelve of you. I hope you all managed a decent night's sleep. I don't know what Enrico explained, but we —correction, we minus Reid— are going to be mentoring you this coming year. Since Hogwarts already divides you into four houses, we'll just be using them. Oliver here is in charge of you three Slytherins, Lorcan is supervising the Ravenclaws, Sei the Gryffindors, and I'm mentoring the Hufflepuffs," he gestured to each in turn, only barely hesitating on the house names. Historical names or not, they were not quite in vogue anymore.
"Why don't you all join your mentors," Marcus directed, gesturing for his fellow Altair students to spread out around the table as he transfigured the circular table into a rectangle. The Hogwarts students moved slowly, walking around their new mentors and sitting very close to as far away as they could manage, carefully setting their plates in front of them.
A few of them; Potter and Lovegood especially, seemed more willing to sit comfortably next to the nonhuman mentors. On the other hand, there were Weasley, Malfoy, and Smith who actively leaned away from their mentors, twitching every time they moved. As soon as he'd noticed it, Sei pulled out a wand, something Marcus hadn't even realized the vampire had and began twirling it through his fingers, rolling it from side to side and leaning back as casually as he could.
"Alright," Marcus continued uncomfortably. "Well. Breakfast, how about that?" He ignored the snickers from the other Altair students. "I'm not entirely sure how meals work at Hogwarts, but here at Altair, there is breakfast, lunch, and supper served weekdays in the Atrium. On weekends food isn't served in the Atrium, as it tends to be used for other activities, so most people tend to buy food at the markets or the two cafés on campus. Or, as I did much of my first year, you can take the whole fruits and vegetables and pastries and other things from weekdays and store and eat them later."
"I did that too," Lorcan admits, rubbing his foreheads. "Still do, actually. There are some really good meals and most things taste alright leaving them under preservation charms for a day or two. Don't mock me, I'vores, you've done it too."
"Everyone has. You can also go looking for the kitchens, there's always a great deal of food there," Reid added, winking at the other vampire as Sei gestured for him to stop. "Plus, if you're nice, you get prioritized and can ask for the good blood each meal."
"You get served blood each meal?" Finch-Fletchley asked with wide eyes, his fork clattering to the table.
"Each meal and whenever we ask nicely," Sei agreed. "Altair does its best to accommodate its student's needs, it always has. Unfortunately, they only serve us animal blood, so if we want any good human blood… well, we have to get it from other sources," he leered at Potter, jolting back when she laughed loudly and grinned at him.
"You can't just—"
"Who cooks the food?" Potter interrupted loudly, cutting through one of the fluffy chocolate pancakes that were one of the furthest things from healthy Altair offered. "This is delicious."
"Brownies," Marcus said.
"'Brownies?'" Finch-Fletchley echoed, confused.
"You probably call them house-elves," Sei offered. "Altair has a positive horde of them, given the amount of magic here."
"You have house-elves?" Granger asked shrilly. "How could you have house-elves? I thought you would care about their freedom, not— not enslave them!"
"Brownies aren't slaves, Granger," Marcus disagreed, jaw clenching as he forced himself to explain. "Maybe it's different at Hogwarts, but they are all here by choice, and their service is rewarded. There is one of the largest brownie enclaves in the world here, buried somewhere deep underground. They're paid in resources —textiles, raw metals, stone, other supplies, and ambient magic— in exchange for service cleaning, cooking, repairing, and everything else they do."
"House-elves don't need any of that!" Malfoy sputtered. "They do work because they know their place, they definitely don't—"
"Consider your next words very carefully," Oliver met the human's eyes, lips curving downwards as he dared Malfoy to continue.
"They don't want—"
"So anyways!" Potter interrupted once again, desperately silencing the boy. "Anyways… other topics. Uh, did any of your families also attend Altair?"
"Yes," Lorcan offered. "My mother and two of my cousins on my father's side both attended Altair, although it's been some time since then."
"Was that the reason you decided to come here?"
"Not exactly. I spent a lot of time deciding between here, Guandi's, Koldovstoretz, and Galen's— all very different places with very different focuses than what I'm studying here," Lorcan said. "Ended up deciding on Altair because it offered a greater diversity of classes, and it's a few years longer than most other programs, plus it guarantees I'll end up with a Mastery or three."
"None of my family attended Altair, I was deciding between Altair and Carau, but I wanted to do Shamanic Magic on top of Illusion, so it ended up being the way things worked out. Reagan decided she wanted to copy me," Marcus recalled. "Worked out pretty well, she's doing Necromancy and Blood Magic and I get to have my fun with Nature Magic."
"I haven't heard of most of those schools," Bones said. "Except for Koldovstoretz, my aunt mentioned that one once. It's in Russia, right?"
Lorcan nodded in affirmation. "Guandi's, or Guandi's Academy of Martial Prowess, is partly a business school and partly a school for war magic in Eastern China. I decided I didn't want to learn Mandarin before then, which is a large part of why I didn't go," he ignored the muffled laughter from the other Altair students as he continued his explanation. "Galen's Academy of Healers is pretty obviously for Healing Magic, which was a very short-lived interest of mine. Pretty sure that's located somewhere in Turkey."
"Western Turkey, if I remember right," Lorenzo agreed. "Carau, la Academia Carau de Los Artes, is a school focused on magical Art disciplines in Argentina. They've got one hell of an Illusion Magic program."
"I didn't know schools like that existed," Finch-Fletchley commented, eagerly leaning across the table. "Is there something focused on research?"
"A lot of the time, research ends up being done through covens or families sponsoring individuals," Reid said. "The largest schools of general magical research are Altair, the Manitoba Institute of Mastery in Canada, and the Academy of Alexandria, Egypt. There's also Metis Academy of Invention, if the direction you're interested in going with research is into creating new technology and magical tools. There's also a Spellcrafting school I've forgotten the name of if that's your interest."
"Is history much of a magical discipline?" Finch-Fletchley asked.
"It depends, there's a lot of old bastards around who've got first-hand accounts of a lot of historical events, and it makes the study of history certainly more interesting," Reid mused. "For the most part yes, especially when it comes to framing events and understanding their effects, but it's not —and I haven't actually done much non-magical research— it's not the same as non-magical disciplines of history."
"Bloody hell, that sounds brilliant," Finch-Fletchley said, flushing as soon as he realized he'd spoken, ducking his head and quickly shoveling a forkful of fruit into his mouth.
"Really, Finch-Fletchley? History? That bland, disappointing, muggle subject?" Malfoy scoffed, and the other boy sank slowly down into his seat. "Sounds fitting for someone like you."
"Oh please, what would you possibly do? Bully eleven-year-olds?" Bones laughed, slinging her arm around her Housemate, and nudging him into a grin. "At least he has aspirations."
"You're all what, fourteen? Do any of you have any 'aspirations' yet?" Sei asked.
"I want to go into law enforcement like my aunt," Bones offered.
"A valiant choice," Marcus spoke over whatever the vampire was about to respond. "As an Auror? Or as an investigator? What field are you interested in?"
"Oh, I hadn't—" Bones paused, playing with the food on her plate as she thought for a moment. "An investigator or detective, I think. I enjoy puzzles, and I think I would enjoy the search for an answer."
"I'm not sure what I want to do," Abbott said after a moment, the sentiment is echoed by most of the other students.
"I plan to go into law," Boot fiddled with the hem of his shirt. "I'm not certain what type of law though, and I think I'll need to transfer schools for that— does Altair offer English and law classes?"
"Yes, but you wouldn't be able to get into most of them for a few more years," Lorcan advised. "There are a few English classes you could look at, you still have plenty of time to amend your schedule. You might enjoy Speech and Debate too."
"Speech and Debate?"
"It's a club that practices argumentative and public speaking skills," the daemon rifled in his pocket, pulling out a folded paper and passing it to the other man. "Here, we aren't technically meeting for a few weeks, but if you're interested—"
"Really, I'vores? You're so desperate—"
"I'm going to find Crumple-Horned Snorkacks," Lovegood said surely, eyes crinkled by her wide grin. "And I'm going to write my own Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."
"A what?"
"That's a good goal," Marcus said over the vampires' muttered confusion. "What are some of the classes you're most interested in?"
"I'm excited for Nature Magic," Finch-Fletchley offered, to the nods of many of the other students. "That, and I'm hoping Potions is better this year— oh! And Medimagic! I didn't realize that was something we could learn this early."
"I'm looking forward to Muse Magic," Abbott added in a wavering voice. "And also Medimagic, I'm considering becoming a Healer."
"I haven't taken Nature nor Muse Magic, although I've heard… things about the teacher," Marcus said. "Malthus Riveras is mainly a Shamanic Magic teacher —that's offered later, after a few years of Nature Magic classes— but he's also currently teaching the first few years of Nature Magic. He's… Oliver, how would you explain Riveras?"
"He's off his rocker —that's a British expression, right? — but in a very engaging way. He's a very practical teacher, and you'll almost always be using magic in his class," Oliver said.
"The best thing about him is that he isn't Hadriel Quiell," Lorcan tapped a finger on the table, grinning at Oliver's immediate scowl.
"Quiell, as you will quickly learn, is very, very, very biased against anyone who isn't fae —and even then, he's not particularly friendly to anyone," Marcus explained. "Muse Magic, as you mentioned, is taught by a twin pair of sprites, Lucciola and Maren, fire and water. I believe they are bonded spouses, and I've heard from my partner that the class is enjoyable, and is best for people who already have experience singing."
"Most of the classes are best if you have prior experience," Sei muttered faintly, mouth hidden behind his hand. Marcus considered hexing him for all of a second before deciding it would probably end poorly —for Marcus most of all, but also likely for everyone at the table.
"Are the rest of you looking forward to any other classes?"
The table stewed in silence for a time before Zabini spoke up. "Necromancy," he said simply, to the approving murmurs of half the table.
"Something fun," Sei complimented. "Any of the rest of you? Taking that or Blood Magic?"
"I was going to try Blood Magic," Boot admitted, startling his friends.
"You can't be serious, those are Dark Arts," Weasley blurted over Potter's aborted compliment.
"Very fun Dark Arts," Reid said agreeably, leaning forward to rest his jaw on a palm with a faux-innocent smile, eyes a little too sharply focused on Weasley to be anything but hostile.
"I'm doing Blood Magic and Necromancy too," Malfoy blustered, puffing up his chest. "And I'll certainly be better at it than you, half-blood."
Boot stared at the other boy for a moment, opening his mouth as if to pick a fight before snapping it shut again and taking a deep breath. "Good for you, Draco. Best of luck."
"Are you mocking—"
"I'm being serious, good luck, I'm sure you're capable of it. You were definitely better than me at Potions, maybe it'll transfer over," Boot relaxed a little more with each word he spoke, lifting his head up confidently. "Honestly, all I'm hoping for this year is to be able to try new things —which has already happened, what with the whole trip here— and convince my mum that I don't have to stop doing magic education to switch to law prep, so I'm good without turning this into a competition. I do like the idea of Speech and Debate though, thanks for the offer mate."
"'Course," Lorcan nodded, one eyebrow curving upwards as he glanced over at Marcus. "Now, how about this, you all haven't had a chance to explore Altair yet, so what better than a friendly bonding activity where each of us mentors takes their groups on a brief tour? There's a lot of logistics I've heard Headmistress Mercuriel is planning on having someone go over with you, but before then, let's help you all get a lay of the land."
"I am going to kill you," Oliver said under his breath quietly enough the human students couldn't hear him, smiling tightly all the while.
…
[September 4, 1995:The Great Hall, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry]
Ever since the students arrived the previous Thursday, Hogwarts was in an uproar, questions bouncing off the walls. It was a louder beginning of the year than most others, with the first years settling in alarmingly quick. For one of the first few times, everyone had one topic on their minds; the twelve students missing from their ranks. The fifth-year class had dwindled by nearly a fifth with all the students attending Altair Institute of Magic. Anyone and everyone who knew any of the twelve students was peppered non-stop with questions and theories about all the different ways Callisto Potter was going to 'put the creatures in their place.'
Fred and George did not understand how that rumor began. Most of the upper years didn't either; anyone who ever spoke to Azalea knew how much she hated bullies —her words— and it was glaringly obvious she'd never believed much of the 'us versus them' gobshite… except for that time in the second year, with the 'Heir of Slytherin' rubbish.
But this year, there was one very clear voice against Altair— Dolores Jane Umbridge. Their newest, and so far worst, Professor of Defense against the Dark Arts, and —as she'd introduced herself— former Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic. Or, as the rumor mill had already declared, a bigoted toad.
The Weasley twins were rather proud of how quickly that epithet spread. Umbridge caught them setting up a prank on Friday and decided the best thing for her to do was lecture them in her obnoxiously high-pitched voice about how absolutely dreadful their behavior was. All they'd really gotten out of it was that seventh-year would be yet another self-study year —something absolutely perfect for their NEWT years— and that they'd be pranking her just as much as they had Lockhart.
Fred glanced over at George, grinning slowly and palming his wand. His brother winked back, and in unison, they flicked their wands to activate their first prank of the year.
On cue, Umbridge shrieked, jumping up from her seat at the Head Table, hands flying and tipping over her glass onto the dark wood.
"Who did this to my dress?!" the toad shouted, fumbling in her skirts for her wand. "Whoever did this, you have detention for a week! No— for a month!"
Her dress —the awful, pasty pink monstrosity it was moments before— had positively blossomed with neon yellow spots, transforming into the atrocious robes Albus Dumbledore fancied. This first one was brilliant yellow with green bananas embroidered along the hems. The hex would only last a few hours, nothing more complicated than a color-changing charm… but it would renew each day, day after day, making every dress she wore become even more of an eyesore.
"Clever idea, brother mine, wonder what brilliant minds thought of that one," George teased, clinking their glasses together.
"Oh, must have been someone truly ingenious, brother dear," Fred rejoined. "Who else would have thought of a plan so, so sagacious."
"Why, not a soul could have thought of something more brilliant than we."
"Not one, brother of mine."
…
a/n: So anyways, this is (definitely) on time. Sorry for my complete disappearance. These past few months have been really rough for me writing wise, and I'm not super happy with this chapter, but it is what it is. And thanks to DragonGodOphis for reviewing last week and re-encouraging me to finish this goddamn chapter. Idk how frequent updates will be, but hopefully not super long between them.
In other news, I just realized that HP year 5 takes place in 1995, not 1994… so I have to go back and change that in every chapter so far or I will go insane, so YES this chapter takes place at the same time as the rest do, it's just got the actually correct date… Also might do some grammar/flow fixes while I'm at it, so if you notice changes without reasons it's probably that, although I'll probably leave an edit A/N.
Ciao, love and Happy Valentines Day,
kie